From a morning walk in the woods to a final walk to Golgotha and the Crucifixion, this new collection of nearly sixty poems, The Last Christian City and Other Poems by charles corden, includes works of many genres. They range from an account of President Lincoln in Richmond, the capitol of the Confederacy, to the homecoming of a marine from China after World War II; from the exodus of early man from Africa to the pangs of a first love in high school; and from the emergence of a basketball star to the death of a beloved pet. The title poem, The Last Christian City, chronicles the fall of Constantinople (Istanbul) to the Ottoman Turks, thus putting an end to the long history of the Roman Empire and to the age of antiquity. The collection is rich in examples of different poetic forms: free verse (On a Photograph of My Children); blank verse (Mending Fences); couplet (Love), sonnet (Elise); pantoum (Rock and Roll Poet); elegy (A Single Rose); haikus (Haiku I and II); jazz (Who's That Knocking At Mah Door); metaphysical (Witness); myth (Blue Light); prose (The Market); and so forth. Much of the poetry being written today requires multiple readings in order to be understood. With this requirement, charles believes the attractiveness of poetry is lost to the public, especially among the young. If this constraint was applied to the reading of children's books, young adult fiction, mysteries, science-fiction, and so forth, it is clear that literacy in our country would take a major hit. Charles is proud that his poems can be understood with one or, at the most, two readings. Poetry can be fun, educational, and, yes, even interesting.
About the Author: Though charles corden is relatively new to poetry, he is not new to writing: he has been writing prose all his life. He was writing stories at age 11 or 12 filling up notebooks with stories of human exploration of Mars and Venus and the distant stars. He continued writing throughout high school, winning an award at a high school journalism convention at Columbia University. In the Air Force, he did well enough on tests to go to intelligence school. After being stationed in Greece and the Middle East, he returned to the USA. While stationed in Texas, he wrote for and edited a weekly and monthly intelligence review. Then after his discharge he enrolled at the University of Connecticut where he majored in history, which, of course, required a great deal of writing. He also wrote for The Daily Campus, the university newspaper. After graduation, he taught English and history but the itch for further studies became too much to ignore. He completed law school by going nights and teaching days and then passed the Connecticut bar exam on his first attempt. However, he apparently enjoyed a life of teaching more than a life in the law because he continued teaching. However, the skills picked up in law school, especially the art of research and of succinct writing, were put to good use when he earned a Master of Arts degree in history. Plans of going on for a doctorate had to be placed on hold with the coming of children and the inability to be in residence at the University of Connecticut which was a requirement at the time. All this studying kept charles writing prose, however, while enjoyable did not give him an opportunity to create poetry. Now that he has retired from teaching, charles has found that he now has plenty of time to write poetry and attend classes and workshops on poetry. Charles enjoys poetry that can be understood on the first or second reading. This may be a result of his work in history and the law or the fact that he was never caught up in the poetry (or creative writing) culture during his undergraduate days. Much of the poetry written today has to be read two or three or more times just to be understood. Charles believes the poetry included in this volume, if read carefully, can be understood and enjoyed after one or, maybe, two readings.